[P2P-F] Fwd: Fw: Godric's .. words April 28th 2011

Sun Jul 10 09:25:38 CEST 2011

see below, don't know more about it, but interesting alternative corporate
structure ..

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Thomas Greco <thg at mindspring.com>
Date: Sun, Jul 10, 2011 at 10:19 AM
Subject: Fwd: Fw: Godric's .. words April 28th 2011
To: Georgia Kelly <georgia at praxispeace.org>, Sergio Lub <
sergio at sergiolub.com>, Silke Helfrich <Silke.Helfrich at gmx.de>, Michel
Bauwens <michelsub2004 at gmail.com>, David Bollier <david at bollier.org>

**
Dear colleagues,
You may or may not have heard about the Scott Bader Commonwealth, but it may
be just as important as the Mondragon Cooperatives in leading the way toward
the kinds of organizational structures that are needed for a peaceful
society in which all have the opportunity for a dignified life.

I thin you will find the 60th Anniversary letter below to be of great
interest.
Regards,
Tom

Thomas H. Greco, Jr.thg at mindspring.com
Mobile phone (Thailand): +66 84 373 5645
Mobile phone (USA): 520-820-0575
Beyond Money: http://beyondmoney.net
Tom's News and Views: http://tomazgreco.wordpress.com
Archive Website: http://www.Reinventingmoney.com
Photo gallery: http://picasaweb.google.com/tomazhg
Skype/Twitter name: tomazgreco
My latest book, "The End of Money and the Future of Civilization"
can be ordered from Chelsea Green Publishing, Amazon.com, or your
local bookshop.

-------- Original Message --------  Subject: Fw: Godric's .. words April
28th 2011  Date: Sat, 9 Jul 2011 20:28:55 +0100 (BST)  From: Godric Bader
<godricbader at yahoo.co.uk> <godricbader at yahoo.co.uk>  To: thg at mindspring.com

  Thomas..
                   .perhaps  youdid not get this either that i thought you
would like to see !  ?  !  ?   Godric

--- On *Thu, 7/7/11, Godric Bader
<godricbader at yahoo.co.uk><godricbader at yahoo.co.uk>
* wrote:

From: Godric Bader <godricbader at yahoo.co.uk> <godricbader at yahoo.co.uk>
Subject: Fw: Godric's .. words April 28th 2011
To: thg at mondspring.com
Date: Thursday, 7 July, 2011, 13:38

--- On *Fri, 17/6/11, Godric Bader
<godricbader at yahoo.co.uk><godricbader at yahoo.co.uk>
* wrote:

From: Godric Bader <godricbader at yahoo.co.uk> <godricbader at yahoo.co.uk>
Subject: Fw: Godric's .. words April 28th 2011
To: "Nicholas Parkyn" <nicholasparkyn at uku.co.uk> <nicholasparkyn at uku.co.uk>,
"Dorothee Bader" <dorothee.bader at bluewin.ch> <dorothee.bader at bluewin.ch>,
"Sylvia Brown" <sylvieb at tesco.net> <sylvieb at tesco.net>, "John Bunzl"
<jbunzl at simpol.org> <jbunzl at simpol.org>
Date: Friday, 17 June, 2011, 18:13

--- On *Tue, 14/6/11, Godric Bader
<godricbader at yahoo.co.uk><godricbader at yahoo.co.uk>
* wrote:

From: Godric Bader <godricbader at yahoo.co.uk> <godricbader at yahoo.co.uk>
Subject: Godric's .. words April 28th 2011
To: "Verena Schumacher" <verenach at tiscali.co.uk> <verenach at tiscali.co.uk>
Date: Tuesday, 14 June, 2011, 11:47

60th Anniversary

23/04/11
It is a great pleasure for me to say a few words to everyone on this really
remarkable day, signalling that we have achieved 60 years of our
Commonwealth, from April 28th 1951 to where we are now - April 28th 2011 -
YES ! 60 years!
What a history, a deeply chequered history.... but an achievement we can now
look back on! Today marks a truly big milestone for us all… !
Those sixty years required a lot of hard, reliable work … many different
lives came and went during all those years for there was good work, good
innovation... work to keep up Scott Bader‘s standards and reputation,
especially to please and supply our customers *and* always in competition
with some of the largest chemical companies in the world (some of *them* no
longer exist ) but we do ! ! ! ! SO deep thanks to those who were involved…
are still involved or newly involved AND we can all say… we were.. we are…
proud to be involved … *This *is now the excitement and the joy in today’s
celebration on reaching April 2011. ALIVE and KICKING ! !
.. FOR… It would never have been achieved without the creation and founding
of the Commonwealth, and everyone‘s dedication and hard work for the
creation of the Commonwealth to provide and to hold us where we are today! a
strong foundation for all our companies world wide… AND ….as so well
illustrated on the covers of our new Constitutional Booklet !
Now a little history. After the second world war,... and our move from
London (Kingsway offices & Stratford plant.. to Wollaston 1940) we were
joined by new people, many from the forces, all agreeing "never again!" We
felt strongly that the roots of violence must be removed from the world. We
felt that just saying ’no’ to war was too late and not enough. The unhealthy
growth of greed and selfishness in the business world was developing. We
wished to work for peace not only between countries, but in relationships
between all people, personally, face to face, especially within the
workplace. People *earning *their living decently and building wealth and
security in common on a firm basis together. We had learned to work together
during the war. We wanted to work together for peace….we wanted a new
society…one living out what the early Quakers had said….. we must "learn to
live in that power and life that takes away the very occasion of war"
(George Fox..1651 ! An early Quaker Founder ) and further than that vital
need… to contribute to building an economic system that does not require any
man or woman to be thrown out of employment to suit the system !
That was our post-war dream!..( an altogether better world.. and we would
show the way ! )
In particular my father Ernest wanted to teach his workers how to develop
the responsibility and freedom he had achieved for himself, so they could
help to decide their own future, within a stable working company.
But it was not easy to conceive and build our Commonwealth.
The total conversion of the 30 year old private family company took time and
many head aches too. It took a strike and three attempts at restructuring,
during which three top executives left us to go to South Africa with our
formulations, before we worked out the right way to forge an organization on
a basic democratic structure: to respond and to serve each other’s need - as
wisely and responsibly as is possible in the world of work. The company
would no longer belong to the Bader family for their own wealth and control.
It was to be Common Wealth. ( When the final papers were signed in a London
lawyers office he saw the smiles on our faces and said "Gentlemen... I must
remind you that the invitaton cards to the funeral of capitalism have not
yet been issued ! )
So the Commonwealth was finally founded in April 1951, and uniquely
registered as a charity to take over the original Scott Bader company. This
neutralised all the shares and safeguarded us from being taken over by
anyone else. It was given into the hands of those in the workforce that,
having a normal contract with the operating company - signed up and
committed themselves to a deeper undertaking - a covenant with the
Commonwealth, undertaking not only responsibility for the company assets,
but also for the fundamental purposes of the Commonwealth, to develop their
own livelihood but also to serve the wider community - the world, and bring
about an altogether better way of living for themselves and for coming
generations - like us!
HOW ARE WE DOING….? SIXTY YEARS LATER ! ? ? Don't forget we have to report
our progress to the Charity Commission.
One little story …… I once had the pleasure of telling an American in London
that he could not buy us - he even followed me back to my car saying *‘but
don’t you know it’s dollars - it’s dollars!’ *.
Just think, you might have been working for an American company !.. Or
probably not working at all !
So far the development and establishment of our truly international Common
Trusteeship company, with its organisation of offices and manufacturing
companies around the world, is certainly a unique achievement - most
assuredly as it is now, with our democratic Members’ Assembly at the centre
- learning to be the strong beating heart of our organisation.
And it is real and in action. It has full recognition in the publication of
our new constitutional documents (after 2 years of thoughtful and extensive
consultation) so we now have the legal guidance in our hands to take us
confidently forward.
 Our Commonwealth has very recently been publicly recognised again, in a
letter in a leading London newspaper (F.T.) describing us as ‘a hybrid
organisation’ and, in a leading academic business journal (Elsevier), as
having less ‘Moral Debt’ (alongside the JLP ! ! ! too ) compared to other
"normal" companies, notably those that are fought and gambled with on the
stock exchange…(gambling with their workers’ lives too !) as Kraft has done
with Cadbury's recently.
We have to learn to hold our world and its resources in common and in trust.
We do not own the sun, the rain, the air we breathe, or the earth we live on
and from. ( Gandhi ) We *are *beginning to respect them: we need to be
united in our responsibility for all our world’s resources ..our minerals
and oil and what we have created from them - wherever we live or work. We
should use them "in common" like a good family would, and I hope we will
with ours - our Commonwealth ! ……..Let us not forget minerals & oil are
capital & should NOT be spent as income ( Schumacher) !
Recently an article in the widely read ‘Time’ magazine, hinting at similar
thinking… finished with these words …..‘Don’t blow it! Good planets are hard
to find!’
So.. moving forward.. with these 60 years behind us our company surely has
the experience now, the strength, the desire, and much deeper drive and
confidence behind it to brave this our 21st century. Thank goodness we are
now more broadly based in the world than most of us in the last century ever
expected… and our worldwide companies have given us wider horizons to excite
us, and stimulate our outlook, and to make more imaginative progress across
the world…. your current goal !
In order to mark this special occasion, and for future generations to know
you were here, I would now like to invite all of you to join me and sign the
declaration to reconﬁrm your commitment to the purpose for which the
Commonwealth was founded… … as was done in 1951.. (and once or twice at
other milestones in our constitutional developments !)

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